Taliban

Place of Origin: Kandahar, Afghanistan

Year of Origin: 1994

The Taliban is the jihadist group that remains active in Afghanistan and seeks to establish a caliphate in the region. The group is known by a radical interpretation of Islam, standing against the Afghan government and the West.

It was founded in 1994 by Mohamad Omar and at that time it was formed by mujahedeen – who were fighting against the Soviet Union during the Afghan War – and a group of Pashtun tribesmen. The Taliban remained on control of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when it was defeated by an American-led invasion. Since then, the number of terrorist attacks executed by the group has increased.

The main targets of the group are the government´s institutions and citizens. 2015 was the deadliest year ever recorded of the group with more than 4.500 deaths in Afghanistan due to attacks executed by Taliban.

RECRUITMENT

In the beginning, the group trained many youngsters that came from Pakistan and joined the Taliban in Afghanistan. In 2014, Voa News estimated the group had approximately 60.000 fighters, including children that were trained to become suicide bombers.

MEDIA STRATEGIES

There are few videos of Taliban on the Internet, which indicates their main strategy relies on radio broadcast. Despite the power of social media, the group still values radio as a powerful means to persuade people. Besides that, the group also has their own media channel, which often releases its statements on the Internet in English.